Something Blue
by ClarityInObscurity
Summary: Cloud stole something from Tifa. He'll learn the hard way not to.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of FFVII and I do not make profits from this story.

_This little fic was inspired by a short fic Kitsune13's. It's chapter 23 of the "For Their Own Good" drabbles. Quite amusing and well written ficlets. Check them out!_

* * *

Monday was the day she always did laundry. The bar was closed until the afternoon, the children were in school, and there was a quiet that hung in the house that she intended to enjoy. She would start with the darks because, with Cloud being present more often, there were always more of those than any other load. She would then do the lights and finish with the whites that consisted mostly of towels. After each load, she would separate the piles and fold them neatly. Each pile had their own destination; one to the children's room, one to Cloud's room, and one to her room. It was a fairly simple routine that took up most of the morning.

When it came time for her to change into her clothes that she wore to the bar, she was a bit mystified. She searched through her drawers once, twice, thrice and still she could not find it. She had done laundry this morning, so she knew it had to be here somewhere. Unless she dropped it along the way? She trailed back to the laundry room, which happened to be in the garage, but she did not see any sign of what she was looking for. Next she searched through the children's drawers and Cloud's, but still nothing. She stood in the hallway, hands on her hips, and tried to think back through the morning.

She remembered gathering all the clothes while the children were eating the breakfast she made and Cloud was making some last minutes changes to his routes for the day. Before she got all the laundry into the garage, the children said their goodbyes and scampered out the door. Cloud had stuck around a bit longer, sipping on some coffee. She had gone out into the garage when she heard the dryer buzz for the first load and switched out the loads. Cloud had come into the garage, ready to start on his deliveries for the day. He had kissed her on the forehead, an arm sweeping by her, and then he had left. Quite quickly. She snapped out of her daze. Had Cloud…?

No. He couldn't have. Cloud was too reserved and shy and...well, he just couldn't.

Could he?

Tifa shook her head and moved on from the spot. She knew it had to be around somewhere. Sighing, she grabbed something different to put on. If it was around, it was bound to show up sooner or later. She had more important things to worry about.

**_*_**

In the evening, the bar was in full swing. Since moving into her own home, Tifa had expanded the bar area to include more tables and a few booths. She offered a dinner menu that changed daily, depending on what ingredients she had available. There were more families that came in now, as well as her regular patrons. She had to hire a full-time cook and a waitress to keep up with business.

As usual, Cloud sauntered in through the front door of the bar and took his seat at the end of it. The seat that had a view of the entire room. Some paranoid habits never die. The patrons of the bar always kept it clear for him and shooed out any newcomer that tried to sit there. Tifa graced him with a smile and a gin and tonic upon his arrival. He would nurse it for an hour before he would go pick up the children from Elmyra.

As Cloud walked to the door, Tifa spotted something that was unusual. In his back pocket, there was a bit of light blue fabric poking out. If anything, Cloud never deviated from his dark colors. Dark blues and blacks was it for him. Even his boxers were black. That bit of blue, however… Tifa thought back to the morning she had. Her eyes went wide and her hands slapped over her mouth to stifle her surprise. A couple of the patrons at the bar eyed her, but it was nothing new for Tifa to sometimes act random.

Why that- He had- No way!

As the shock wore off, the anger set in. Soon, though, the anger melted into mischief.

Cloud Strife would learn to never steal from Tifa Lockheart.

**_*_**

In the morning, after the kids had had their breakfast and gone off to school, Tifa broke her regular routine. Cloud looked up as she ascended the stairs, but said nothing about it. In her room, Tifa changed her clothes and donned the matching piece to her missing item. She looked at herself in the mirror, gave an evil smile, and took her hair down from her ponytail. After waiting just a few more moments, Tifa called down to Cloud and asked him to come upstairs. She had her back to Cloud as he entered the doorway to her room.

"Did you need something?" he asked, slightly confused.

"I need some help," Tifa said, her back to him still. She shook her hips as she rifled through a drawer. "I seem to be missing something."

"O-oh? And what would that be?"

Tifa pretended to be looking through one of her drawers. A drawer where she kept certain articles –if you could call them that- of clothing. "Well… It's small and red and is the match to this." Tifa turned around and lifted her shirt to expose a lacy, blue bra to Cloud. She watched in satisfaction as Cloud's eyes glazed over and his mouth gaped open. Such a male. "Have you seen it anywhere?" she asked innocently, tilting her head to the right.

Cloud's mouth moved, but no sound came from it. He swallowed and tried again as he moved his blue eyes up to Tifa's face. She watched the battle of wills in his eyes as he tried not to look down. "N-no. Can't say t-that I have."

Tifa pulled her shirt back down and pouted. She walked to Cloud, making the sway of her hips dreadfully obvious. She put her hands on his waist and looked up at him. His eyes were still not all there. He was probably in his mind, thinking about other, more interesting things. "Too bad. I was going to wear- Oh? What is this?" Tifa reached behind Cloud and to his back pocket. From it, she extracted a lacy, blue thong. She felt Cloud freeze as reality crashed around him. The jig was up and he was caught red handed. Tifa stepped back from Cloud, one arm across her chest, the other extended with the thong dangling off one her of her fingers in front of Cloud's face. She raised her eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"I- Long trip- Soft- You- Lace panties-" was all he could get out. The rest of the time his mouth just hung open in shock. How did she know?

Tifa took an edge of the barely there fabric and hit Cloud upside the head with the rest. He would take no damage from it, but he would certainly remember being hit by Tifa's Blue, lacy thong. "Don't steal my stuff, you panty thief!" And with that, Tifa marched off to the bathroom, smiling the entire way, and slammed the door, leaving a baffled Cloud standing in her bedroom doorway.


End file.
